You Break Me Down And Build Me Up
by christinas-fandom-fics
Summary: Sequel to The Labor of My Love. Possibly triggering themes (just to be safe guys). I'd appreciate any feedback. I might do some rewriting. Sorry to say, but I most likely won't be continuing this story.
1. The Beginning

**Flashback**

 _"What's your name?"_

 _"Kate."_

 _"Your real name?"_

 _"I'm not allowed to tell you."_

 _"My name is Diane Marion Belfrey. I'm your sister."_

 _"I don't have a sister. I don't have anyone. I'm an orphan."_

 _"I have a younger brother. His name is Maxwell, but everybody calls him Max."_

 _"Why are you telling me this? I'm tired. I want to go to sleep."_

 _"You can't sleep. There are so many things you got to know."_

Present day

Hydron was walking around the spaceship.

"Should we tie him up?" Diane asked no one in particular, but only got Volt's answer.

"No. It was hard enough convincing him to come with us. Doing something like that would only cause more trouble."

"Too bad. He's really getting on my nerves."

Kate took a seat next to Lync, who was playing a video game.

"Hey." she said in her usual Kate-like way "what's up?"

"Nothing special," Lync replied

"And with other people?"

"I'm not falling for it, Kate. I don't want to gossip about your sister. She's your sister, go to her and ask her."

"...ask her... what?"

"Whatever you want," Lync replied, saying a loud swear when his screen said game over.

"Dee."

Kate knew Diane despised that nickname.

"What is it that you want?"

"Information."

"About what?"

"Who, to be specific."

"Is there something happening with you and Mylene or not?" she said quickly

"Is that all you want to know, Kate? Is your life so event less and boring you worry about your sister's friends all the time?"

"I might be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure you guys are a bit more than friends." she said making a face that could be described as I'm-not-falling-for-your-crap-anymore-Diane kind of face

"Don't say that."

"Say what?"

"More than friends. What is more than that?"

Kate, at this point, didn't know if her sister at this point was in the mood for any kind of vestal interaction (see what I did there?).

"You know, romance, hand holding, movie dates, popcorn, cheesiness, cheesy popcorn with cheese, eating spaghetti listening to Bella Notte..." Kate tried to sound as annoying as she could. She learned a thing from hanging out with the Vexos.

"Usual stuff when you're in lo-"

"Don't say the L word, Kate," Diane warned.

"Leggings? Leather? Liquid? Laces? "

"Love," Diane replied, annoyed.

" _Love_." Kate echoed on purpose.

"And you're surprised I avoid talking to you."

Diane said trying to sound like she's sick of everything, but her smile betrayed her, and Kate noticed that.

"You want to talk about something, do you?"

"Maybe. Perhaps."

Shadow Prove sat next to Mylene. He could see how she was immediately annoyed, but that wasn't unusual.

"You came here to bother me?" she asked in a completely emotionless voice

"Yup," he said with a smile

 _"That's perfect."_

"Don't you just love sarcasm?" he teased. "I've got news to share."

"Share them with someone else."

"New Vestroia calling Mylene. Mylene's not answering... Are you there? Are you alive? Is everything okay?"

"It's not!" she snapped and then suddenly got sad. Shadow could notice that, but to another mortal, it would barely be noticeable.

"What?"

"Forget it, forget I said anything."

"If that's what you want." he said, then made a pause, then started to speak again "but it's not!"

"My stepmother," she replied

"You have a stepmother?"

"She died."

"That's surprising."

"I killed her."

"That isn't."

"Not on purpose, you moron. It was an accident."

"If it was an accident, why did you say it was you who-"

 _"Whatever! It's clear you won't understand. You're nothing more than a pathetic excuse for a person, and a minor inconvenience, s_ _o get out of my sight!"_

He was prepared to leave, but then something snapped him out of it.

"Not this time." he said more to himself than her. "it's not gonna work. You can't just push me away. You can't push everyone away and expect people will just leave if you act like a total ass! You're not an ass, at least you don't always have to be, so shut up and tell me what's bothering you!"

"Please, leave me alone."

She never said please, unless it was sarcastic and he knew it wasn't. He was getting to her.

"Mylene!"

"Her name was Karen Clarke. She died in a hospital. I didn't remember it. I didn't know. But then Diane showed me a picture. Of the fire, it was next to-"

"Next to what."

"Next to his house," she said looking at Volt's direction.

"What does that-"

He stopped himself realizing what she meant.

"Holy-"

"His family died... ... because of me."


	2. Memories

**So... yup. Maybe I'll get a little bit annoying with my soap-opera writing and cliffhangers, but it's who I am... I always start too many plots in the same fic and then I lose track of them. So I tried to divide the Kate/Volt "saga" into several parts but I'll probably just bore my readers with the whole slow-burn romance thing. So this chapter is me trying to clear things up. I'll add the filler later, but who cares about filler anyway? (also, people who are waiting for me to publish my other fics I promised to do will probably have to wait a little longer. Sorry, I just find it difficult to focus on more projects at the same time. But I'll figure it out one day)**

 _3rd perspective POV_

Diane Belfrey didn't have a problem with telling things to people's faces.

That was the reason why people didn't like her... well, that was the mostly the only reason why people didn't like her.

Diane didn't mind.

However, things were much different when it came to her sister Kate.

Kate... she was quite the opposite of Diane. Kate was that kind of a girl you'd never knew whether you're on the same page or not. And there were many reasons to make you think that.

"Volt Luster? It's Diane. Yes, that Diane."

Diane also had a very bad temper. But you probably knew that already. Just stating the facts.

Diane tried to sound as calm as she could.

"Kate's sister."

She wasn't sure why she felt the need to say that, she was certain Volt didn't know any other Diane's.

"Meet me in the hallway." she said and hung up.

 _"So, here's the thing. Kate's got a crush on you."_

Volt seemed so puzzled she had to wave a hand in front of his face to be sure he was present. Something was... off there. With him. And with Kate. But nobody knew that.

Kate went to the only person who knew Volt besides Shadow Prove and Lync (and not like talking to any of those two would _change_ anything).

Don't get me wrong, Kate _knew_ it was a terrible decision. She was well aware of that.

"Mylene?"

She could see how Mylene reacted to her, which was her reaction to pretty much any person within fifty square meters. Talk to them, say some insults and hope they'll go away.

Kate didn't _get_ Mylene.

She didn't like her nor she found her as scary or fascinating as other people around her.

Mylene sometimes treated Shadow Prove like he was some piece of junk, but then, the next moment she'd act like they're best friends. They were, in fact, but it took Kate two months for her to figure it out.

With Volt, the Vexos female Aquos brawler (also the only female... and the only Aquos brawler?) was much different. She went from making threats ( _It's better for you that the news is good_ ) to sticking up for him, to openly protecting him.

Kate couldn't recall ever seeing her talk to Lync.

"I have a problem." Kate said "And you went to me because..."

"I might need... your help, with... something?"

She phrased it like a question.

"I don't care," Mylene said simply.

It was true, she didn't.

"It's about Prince Hydron." Kate pointed out

"Well in that case... I really don't care." Mylene admitted.

 _What a surprise._

"Just listen, okay? Please..."

Mylene hated people who'd say _please_ when asking for a favor. It seemed so insincere.

"Fine. What?"

 _"Volt, she suffers from memory loss,"_ Diane confessed

"Memory loss? Does she have amnesia?"

"Yes, but also no. It's not your Finding Nemo type of memory loss. And it's _so not_ like from the movies. All she knows is that her name is Katrina. She knows she has a sister, and a brother, she known where she grew up. How.

But she doesn't remember it, Volt.

She just _knows_ it.

Kate sometimes forgets where she is, or how she got there. She forgets facts, or dates, birthdays.

That doesn't mean she can't remember people, or events, she can. Very well, in fact.

My sister is not stupid. And you're not stupid either, I know that."

"What do you want me to do?" Volt asked

She couldn't read how Volt felt. He sounded concerned, but why? Was he worried because of Kate? For Kate? About Kate? What was the difference?

"That's why I'm telling you. Kate must not know that. She has no idea. I never told her."

"You can't tell her," she added

" _I need to speak with you, Your Majesty. Alone_ ", Shadow Prove said.

Hydron was in the hallway, talking to Lync about something that was probably about spying and shadiness.

"It's about your dad. He's up to something", he added.

"He's always up to something." Hydron said

"Yeah, I know. But this is important."

"Lync..."

Hydron gave him a look. Lync realized what that meant.

"I'll be around." Lync said.

Hydron looked at Shadow Prove, impatient.

"Tell me." he ordered

"I don't really know how to do intros, so I'll just get to the point... 'member that Ulrich I mentioned? His dad, Patrick, you know, the dumb one..."

"Yes?"

Hydron felt the need to interrupt him.

"King Zenoheld..." there's no point in calling him a king. "your dad is planning something and it's no good."

"What is he planning Shadow?"

"Political stuff. I don't get it, but I know a gal who will. She's brutal, but she gets things done."

" _Gets things done_?"

"You know what I mean."

Hydron didn't. But he wanted to pretend like he did. After all, you know what they say about assuming.

"You want me to go after my father? I won't do that."

"Grow a pair."

"Excuse me?!"

"Do you want to defeat your father or get defeated by him?"

"Neither."

"Well make the choice."

"Listen to me! If you don't follow my orders, I will-"

Hydron was getting irritated

"What? Make empty threats in your furry jacket and two V-cut shirts?" Shadow said, now really getting on Hydron's nerves.

"I will not tolerate this behavior!" the prince said

"Wake up! You're not a prince anymore. You're a guy whose father was a king, a kid who is now a traitor runaway around in a flying spaceship! You're dealing with the same crap as us."

"I'm not a kid!"

"Yes, you are."

"You're really in a bad mood today, aren't you?"

Shadow kicked him into a wall.

"I'll be in a _really bad mood_ if you don't pay attention."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Perhaps."

Shadow Prove smiled in an evil way, changing his tone from violent to joking around in a second. It was one of his talents.

"I can be a real pain in the ass if the situation asks for it."

Hydron felt like there was a reference to something in that sentence he didn't get and wasn't sure if he wanted to get it.

"I just hope it won't. Okay, Hydron?"

"Okay. Just leave me alone."

"Great."

Hydron spoke to Lync.

"You heard that?"

"I did. I'll call Scarlet Gemone." Lync said

"Make sure you do so."

"Sure, Hydron..." he joked

"It's Your Highness!"

"See you later, Hydron!" Lync jelled as he walked away, leaving the young ex-prince alone in his thoughts.

 _Scarlet... where did he hear that name before?_


	3. Everything

**So third chapter, huh? Hope you're doing well and are still keeping up with the story, readers.**

„Kate?"

„What are you doing here, Volt?"

She said it in a much louder voice than she intended to. She probably sounded more upset than she really was.

„I need to talk to you, Kate," Volt announced.

„What's there to talk about?" she said

„ _Everything._ Why did you join the Vexos? Why are you here? What are we planning? What's-"

„And what if I don't have an answer to any of these?"

„Then we'll find the answer. _Together_."

Meanwhile

„Lync!?"

The prince called him in.

„Prince Hydron?"

„Did you do what I asked you to do?" the prince asked, drinking a cup of tea.

„I contacted the girl Shadow told you about. But if I had to guess, I'd say you already know the girl, _my prince_."

„Do I know of Scarlet? Maybe. Does it matter?"

„It depends on you."

„I'm not sure what you're implying, Lync."

„I'm not implying anything. Yes, I called Scarlet. But she didn't answer. Her brother did, Ulrich Gemone."

„I've heard that name before. Several times. Who is that guy?"

Hydron was getting impatient. And impatient Hydron was one of the worst versions of him.

„All I know is that he owns some kind of a bar in a... _crappy_ neighbourhood. His sister was some kind of a model. Until some incident where some of her... revealing pictures somehow got into the wrong hands. It was pretty embarrassing. The entire family was in shock. That Ulrich guy, I think he's some kind of a hacker." Lync explained

„Hacker?" Hydron echoed

„He can break into anything, even the most complicated security systems."

Speaking of...

„Where are we going?"

Mylene sounded anxious. She didn't like surprises.

Diane was dragging her along somewhere. She used the teleporting system on their spaceship. It wasn't as good as the one Zenoheld had, but it was still pretty good.

They finally arrived in front of a building. It looked like some kind of a cheap apartment complex, with walls that had layers of damaged paint. The door had an old ringing bell. Diane ranged the bell. A girl answered. She had short hair in a black greyish color and brown eyes.

„Hello. Can I help you?"

„We need to speak to Ulrich and Scarlet Gemone," Diane said

„Oh."

„Could you let us in?"

„Sure. Come with me." The girl offered, and they followed her into the place. It was dark. Some cheesy music played, sounding like they were in some kind of an old film.

„You're finally here. I thought you'll never arrive." a guy said, laughing. Mylene didn't even need to look to know who that voice belonged to

„Shadow Prove?" Mylene worded

„That's me." He replied smugly

„Since when do you two talk to each other?" she asked, turning to Diane

„Since we realized we have a common goal." Diane started „to make sure nothing about the... fate of Volt's family."

Diane said it in such a diplomatic way it almost sounded heartless.

„Don't get me wrong, I'm sorry it had to be found out like this.-"

„I'm the one to blame Volt lost everything he had. I'm the one to blame why he joined the Vexos in the first place. I killed his family. I destroyed his life! And you're talking about it like it's nothing!?"

Diane never saw her this upset. Heck, no one ever saw Mylene this upset.

„Volt's already in pain about it. Everyone would. But letting him known will only make everything worse." Diane spoke

„Ironic, right?"

There was so much poison in those words.

„One time in my life I actually _need_ _to_ be selfish, and I cannot do that.

„It's not selfish, Mylene. It's the opposite." Diane explained

„How about we get you a drink?" Scarlet Gemone suggested, „in fact, let's get all of us drinks."

She went to the kitchen and Shadow Prive followed her.

„Hey. Scarlet! Where _is_ your brother?" Shadow asked

„He's dealing with some business."

The tone in which she said it made it pretty clear she wasn't about to say much else.

„Okay. When you see him, let him know I was here."

„No worries. I will. He... I- we missed you." Scarlet said „it's been a long time since we last saw each other. That time when... _Keith_ was blackmailing Ulrich for his money. Well, our father's money."

„Now now. No need to get sentimental." Shadow Prove said

Scarlet smiled.

„Sorry. I just never thought I'll see you again. Not with those... Vexos chicks."

 _Vexos chicks?_

„Can we talk later?" Diane asked

„About what?"

„ _Everything."_

It was all Diane said. All she was able to say.

„I can help you."

„I don't need your help." Mylene retorted

„I think you do! You're just too proud... or closed off to admit that or to even realize that you _do_ need help and can't do everything on your own! Acting all cold and having that I-don't-need-anyone attitude will not bring you anything good."

Diane walked away.

„Is she always like this?" Diane asked Shadow, her voice sounded rougher and more determined. It was obvious this whole drama was exhausting to her.

„Just don't push it. Her. Take it from me. She'll open up to you once you stop trying to make her do that. She's different with you. She cares."

He looked out the window.

„Should we go now? It's getting late. I'm sure the others wonder where are we." Diane said

She made a gesture and he followed her inside the transporter, Mylene walking behind them.


	4. Plans and Decisions

"Guys! GUYS!"

Lync Volan shouted, a little too loud for everyone's taste.

"What is it Lync?" Kate asked because she was Kate, and she did things like that, and because she was the only one to be actually interested in what Lync has to say.

They've been travelling in the spaceship for some time now, not really sure where they were going to, or even what they had in mind to go.

"You should take a look at this. Something is messing with the signal. Like someone is trying to contact us from an outside source."

 _Meanwhile..._

Prince Hydron was in his room, drinking tea listening to _Reputation_.

He was thinking about many things, at least he tried. It was always hard for him to focus while in a situation like this.

Besides being the prince, he never actually did any of the decision making. His father was the leader, the king, the ruler.

Mylene was the one who came up with the plans and set them in mention, usually by bossing everyone around.

The other Vexos followed the orders, not always with enthusiasm, but still... they listened and they mostly got things done. Mostly.

However, it has slowly started to hit him, the realization that he was slowly, but certainly losing power over the Vexos.

Out of nowhere, the computer on his bed next to him turned on, on itself. A familiar voice spoke through it.

"Hydron!"

"FATHER!"

The prince gasped.

"Father, how did you-"

"How did I manage to message you? I have my ways. Or have you forgotten I am the king of Vestal."

"How could I ever forget, father. You keep reminding me of that."

Hydron got over his initial shock.

"What do you need, father?" he asked in a now calm, collected voice. At least he made it sound that way.

"What I need, Hydron is for you and your teammates to pay for your betrayal."

"Betrayal? I don't recall there was any betrayal in question there. Not on my side, at least. Always so dramatic..."

xxx

All of the Vexos were in the dining room. It was a very rare occasion. All of them, together, doing nothing special, all in one place.

Diane and Kate's younger brother Max was there as well. Max didn't like talking to anyone, and no one bothered to try talking to him. What was the point?

Hydron was at the entrance, trying to get everyone's attention

"I gathered you here because my _father_ contacted me today."

He said the word "father" in a louder voice than the rest like he wanted to emphasize on that word.

"What? How's that even possible!?"

Shadow Prove was jelling and a few of the other Vexos tried to shut him up.

"I don't know if my father has an actual plan to punish us for-"

"Zenoheld has a plan. There's no point in trying to deny that."

Mylene never interrupted Hydron and she never refers to the king as 'Zenoheld'.

"I agree with Mylene," Shadow said, but not like that was any surprise.

Everyone else either nodded indifferently or made no reaction. Hydron could clearly see he lost all control.

"What do you suggest, Mylene?"

He asked that because he felt compelled to, not because he really cared what she had to say or plan to even listen to her once she does. He just wanted to shut the others down.

Mylene looked around at everyone else, just to see if any of them planned or wanted to say something. She then looked back at Hydron, decisively.

"I suggest." she began carefully, " _we_ come after King Zenoheld."

"No way!" escaped Kate's mouth and everyone looked at her.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Diane admitted "fighting Zenoheld? The one with the mysterious Alternative machines going on he might or might not try to use for killing us?"

"I never said we fight him. I say... we find someone who can."

 _"And who could that be?"_


	5. Another day, another update

It was just another day.

"Volt!"

"Hi. How are things going?"

"Oh... well. I mean, things are going well... fine... if you ignore the whole 'evil king trying to destroy the universe..."

So Katypical.

"And that's..." Kate said

Why were her interactions with Volt always so damn awkward?

"Pretty hard to ignore, huh? so... ... what are you doing these days?" Kate asked

"I'm sure not planning anything," he replied.

Kate got the hint, understanding what he was really trying to say. She smiled, losing her feeling of anxiety.

"I mean... I'm not going anywhere. After all... where would I go?" Volt explained

Of course. That was actually... quite depressing. Volt had nowhere to go. None of them could.

"Does that mean if I asked you for... dinner... you would be okay with that?" Kate asked

"I would be completely okay with that." he said calmly "I'm just thinking..."

"What are you thinking?" she asked quickly

"It's too early for dinner, don't you think?" Volt said, smirking at pointing at the clock on the wall.

Kate looked at the clock. It was 10 AM.

"Oh... It's ten. AM." she said

"Maybe... we could get lunch then?" he suggested.

"Okay. Lunch it is."

"See you."

"See you."

"And... Volt?"

"Yes, Kate?"

"Who has lunch at 10 am in the morning?"

They both laughed.

"I guess _we_ do," Kate said

"Yeah. I guess we do."

This went well.

xxx

It was a quiet morning.

"SHADOW PROVE!"

Well, it _was_.

Only one person could be screaming his name like that.

"Mylene?"

That was said like a question, which was his version of "yes, dear." It sounded less obedient and didn't have the "dear" part of it.

If it did, it would possibly only make Mylene madder. If making Mylene was even feasible at this point, in this specific point of time.

Also, it was 10 am so realistically it made no sense for Mylene not to be mad.

Mad as in angry, not insane.

Mylene was already insane. Well, not as insane as Shadow himself was, at least that was what he liked to believe.

Being insane is what made him special. Mylene would never take that away from him.

He laughed to himself. Of course she would. She was _Mylene_.

"Come here, immediately!" she ordered

"Why?" he tried to ask "why am I even trying?"

"Hydron problems." she responded "are you completely useless? I told you to come!"

xxx

Sometime after that...

"Diane?"

"What's up?"

Kate smiled, seeing her sister's obvious impersonation of her and the slightly over-done mockery of that line.

"Not much."

"Okay... no, it's not okay... Something's up."

Kate couldn't exactly explain it, but she could very often see when someone was lying, or to say, tried to lie to her. Especially when it appeared the person wasn't even trying to hide it that well.

"Yes. Wanna know what?"

"I'm probably gonna regret asking, but... go ahead."

 ** _To be continued..._**


End file.
